Connecting the Dots: Top news stories for Monday, April 30, 2012

(San Bernadino County Sun) // Thirteen Cal State students are planning a hunger strike for Wednesday, which they say they will continue until university administrators agree to meet with them and consider their demands. Those demands include a five-year moratorium on student fee increases, eliminating housing and car allowances, lowering administration and executive salaries, and removing restrictions to free speech on campus…

(San Jose Mercury News) // The South Bay will soon follow in LA's footsteps with double carpool lanes on a three-mile stretch of Highway 101. Under federal law, traffic in carpool lanes must move at 45 mph or faster; currently this stretch sees speeds as low as 20 mph. Once the lanes are added, this stretch between Highway 85 in Mountain View and Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto will be one of the widest highway systems in the region…

(New York Times) // Apple has avoided paying millions of dollars in taxes in California and 20 other states by using offices and mailboxes in low-tax locations such as Reno, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands. Last year Apple paid a tax rate of 9.8 percent. Comparatively, Walmart paid a tax rate of 24 percent. The methods are all legal, and have been adopted by a number of other tech companies…

(Reuters) // A new study finds that medical spending on obesity exceeds that of smoking…

(Reuters) // Data analyzed by researchers at the State University of New York at Albany reveal that wind farms may increase climate temperatures at night. Data collected at four large wind farms in Texas showed warming of up to 0.72 degrees Celsius over a decade. The warming may be due to wind turbulence produced by the farm, which keeps the ground in their area warm instead of allowing the earth to cool after the sun sets.